Divination bones
Bones used in supernatural rituals
Divination bones (Sotho-Tswana languages: ditaola, isiZulu: amathambo) are pieces of bones and vertebrae, carved ivory dice and cowrie shells used for divination. It is widely known in South Africa where traditional healers, especially of the Bantu people for divination.
Mokgale Makgopa and Magaelane Koma of the University of Venda wrote that divination bones can consist of coins, dominoes, pieces of metal and gems and other things of significance to the healer.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Divination bones”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Sangoma reading the Bones.jpg by Mycelium101, CC BY-SA 3.0
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